Manzanar Fishing Club a story of resilience, defiance

Dec. 21, 2012

Handout

Written by

Truth and consequences accompany some stories, like the inconvenient truth of Japanese-American relocation camps during WWII.

Manzanar War Relocation Camp, surrounded by the slopes of the eastern Sierra, is one of them.

Nearly a year to the day after the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, a disturbing chapter began .

It was a community of 10,000 Americans relocated from Los Angeles County communities from San Pedro harbor and Terminal Island to Boyle Heights and West Los Angeles. aA one point is was the largest community between Los Angeles and Reno.

They pledged allegiance to the flag, were gainfully employed and paid taxes.

They were relegated, however, to living in 20 by 25 foot apartments (essentially barracks with few amenities) and surrounded by guard towers manned by weapon-wielding militia, barbed wire and prison camp consciousness.

It all failed to defeat these Japanese-American, to dampen their spirit because of one simple all-American activity.

Go fish.

“The Manzanar Fishing Club,” is a document of the hearty souls who defied their internment and engaged their freedom as Americans in one of the richest trout regions in the west.

It gives a different dimension to an indelible stain on American history and provides new meaning to “we shall overcome.”

Using interviews from survivors and the families of this episode, archival photographs and film footage and some re-enactments, the the film, in limited theatrical release a year ago, chronicles the circumstances of the relocation, the consequences and how Japanese-Americans dealt with them.

At night, the men and women who came form fishing families and enthusiasts slipped under the barbed wire, ducking searchlights to to cast makeshift fishing rods — made from broom handles, branches and Shinto sticks – in places like Shepherd Creek and other tributaries to the Owens River.

They risked being shot and killed.

Writer Richard Imamura and director Cory Shiozake fashion a straight forward story about the significance of this simple yet dangerous activity.

As family members recount the experiences of their elders, it seems clear the message of spiritual survival empowered generations beyond those who experienced the internment.

Those survivors seemed to relish the defiance of the act without rancor.

Beyond the historical import of this swatch of time, the pure joy of fishing is celebrated.

Archival photos show the fishing club members proudly displaying their prodigious catch and shows how important was to their food supply.

The sum of the movie is not about the atrocity, but what was gained from the experience.